NASCAR SJAPS: Awbrey Fends Off Series Veterans in Slim Jim All Pro Series
7 September 1999
Braselton, Ga. - September 6, 1999 - Winder, Ga.'s Jerry Awbrey earned the biggest victory of his career when he took winning honors in the $44,360 Kroger 200 presented by Oral-B at Lanier National Speedway. The StreetWires Chevrolet driver had to hold off Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring veterans Billy Bigley, Jr. and Hal Goodson to capture his first series victory. The win was worth $7,735 to Awbrey. "A lot of the cars were pushin' pretty bad about half way through the race. Ours was one of them so I was real concerned about that and sure enough after every caution we were losing air in our tires and our car was pushin' like a dump truck. Mike Brown (spotter) on the radio kept saying 'don't give up that bottom line' and so we tried to protect that bottom groove," stated a surprisingly calm Awbrey in victory lane. This event served as the second visit for the Slim Jim All Pro Series in 1999 to the 0.375-mile oval, and just as Awbrey captured the Bud Pole Award on June 19, he did it again to outqualify 34 other drivers that were on hand. He landed on the pole after turning a lap in 13.990 seconds at an average speed of 96.497 mph. Statesville, N.C.'s Scott Kilby garnered his third outside front row starting position of the season, running just 0.036 seconds slower than Awbrey, to make up the balance of the front row for the 30-car starting field. Coupling Kilby's three Bud Pole positions with these three runner-up starts clinched the annual Bud Pole Award for the driver of the Arndt & Herman Windows Chevrolet driver. Kilby edged ahead of Awbrey on the start but it was no sooner than lap two when four cars got together in turn one to bring out the first caution of the 200-lap race. Kilby and numerous other leaders took the opportunity to fulfill their mandatory pit stop requirement at this early stage, handing the lead to Mooresville, N.C.'s Rodney Childers on lap five. The rookie driver kept his C&C Boilers/Cleaver Brooks/Honeywell Chevrolet out front through lap 60, just after Cincinnati, Oh.'s Jeff Fultz powered his Multiple Tool Chevrolet ahead of Childers for the lead. A caution waved one lap later when Greer, S.C.'s Steven Howard slowed his Dick Brooks Automotive/Greer Flooring Center Chevrolet high in turn four. Childers, along with Mike Franklin and Jimmy Garmon pitted and Gary McCoy, Ron Young and Shane Sieg took up the chase when green flag racing resumed. Fultz maintained the top spot while McCoy, Young and Sieg pitted on lap 80, leaving Fultz as the only driver to have not fulfilled the mandatory pit stop requirement. He maintained the lead through the race's halfway point, picking up the $400 Gatorade Front Runner Award in the process, while Goodson and Awbrey also snagged Gatorade points for running second and third at the time. On lap 134 Awbrey began to show his hand by passing Goodson who was handcuffed by Childers and McCoy who had each just lost one lap to leader Fultz. On lap 167 Awbrey drove hard into turn three and got under Fultz for the lead. Just after the lead change Laurel, Miss.'s Robert Burroughs spun and Fultz was given a hall pass to pit under caution. Awbrey then had to withstand the repeated challenges of first Goodson, then Bigley who passed Goodson late in the race for the runner-up spot. Bigley had one last gasp to put his Peerless Woodworking Chevrolet into victory lane for the third race in a row but Awbrey persevered for the win. Bigley, Goodson, Randy Gentry and Fultz rounded out the top five while Kilby, David Reutimann, Franklin, Jason Hogan and series points leader Wayne Anderson rounded out the top 10. Awbrey narrowly held off Bigley by 0.198 seconds for the win. The race, the first of 1999 to run over the prescribed distance, went 203 laps in a time of one hour, four minutes and 46 seconds equating to an average speed of 69.480 mph. The race was slowed for caution nine times for 49 laps. There were 11 drivers on the lead lap when the checkered flag waved and 23 of 30 starters were running when the checkered flag waved. There were four lead changes among five drivers. Again Bigley narrowed the lead for the series points title. Combining Bigley's runner-up finish with Anderson's 10th, the Jani-King Chevrolet driver leads Bigley by 76 points heading into the 16th and final event of the season. Goodson continues to hold down the third points position while Reutimann moves into the fifth position after Howard slipped from fourth to seventh after the engine expired in his race car relegating him to a 27th place finishing position. Slammin' Sammy Shumate earned the $300 Jasper Engines & Transmissions Crew Chief-of-the-Race Award after keeping his driver calm throughout the event enroute to the win. Bigley's second place finish moved his father Bill, Sr. to just four points behind Anderson's crew chief Augie Grill in the season-long crew chief points chase as the teams head to Nashville on October 2. With Goodson grabbing three points while running second at the race's halfway point the Nortel Networks Chevrolet driver clinched the annual Gatorade Front Runner Award. Howard can no longer catch the Darlington, S.C. driver for that category's points chase. The best point race in the series continues in the Rookie-of-the-Year category. Franklin drove his Spitzer Dodge Sales Chevrolet Monte Carlo to Rookie-of-the-Race honors but Coy Gibbs and Childers are now deadlocked at 103 points each with one race left to go. Colleyville, Tex.'s Patrick Lawler is also within striking distance residing seven points behind the leaders heading into the final race of the season. The final event of the season, and the most lucrative, will take place on Saturday night, October 2, at Nashville (Tenn.) Speedway, U.S.A. The 19th annual All American 400, to be run under the lights for the first time ever, will serve as the 16th and final race of the 1999 Slim Jim All Pro Series season.
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